Bethanne Patrick

Greetings from Charlottesville, Part II

I showed what I believe to be great restraint at the New Dominion Book Shop yesterday. I only bought seven books. This is due to the fact that the fiction buyer there and I must share a brain -- every title on their table was one I'd either already read or have in my stack! Such taste. From the new Jonathan Coe I read a few weeks back to the new Joanne Harris that I just sent to Page-Burner Winner Anne last week to Ben Ehrenreich's The Suitors (if you haven't read it, do), that table was full of great stuff. I decided to buy the new Fay Weldon despite its lukewarm reviews because my oldest friend from college (a fellow Fay fan) liked it, and I also couldn't resist The McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes, among others. (Photo of the Downtown Mall courtesy of TCPix on Flickr)

But my favorite purchase has to do with yesterday's entry. After writing about VA Book, I decided to call Nancy and Kevin and stop by to chat...and found out that our Mr. McFadden has just had his first book of poetry published by The University of Georgia Press as a VQR title. Hardscrabble has a really cool cover...and that is all I can tell you about it at the moment, since I haven't had time to actually crack it open! However, I already know Kevin's poetry; here's one of his I like called "Feet." Or check out "Eight Anagrams after OuLiPo." Congratulations, Kevin! Also: stay tuned for a few ideas we tossed around that just might make it onto the docket for next year's Festival, so mark your calendars...

Today I'm heading to The University's bookstore and also over to Heartwood Books, just in case there's something there I can't live without. Tomorrow I'll be back in my office, and back to reading headlines and meeting deadlines (now there's a blog title for someone), but it's been good to have a break. The downside? Between all of the strolling, browsing, and restaurant visits, I've only finished one book!

Posted by Bethanne Patrick on April 16, 2008 | Comments (2)